Bang & Olufsen Debuts High-end Speaker Powered by Google Assistant

Bang & Olufsen, a high-end Danish consumer electronics company, has introduced two upcoming smart speakers powered by Google Assistant, which will cost close to US$2,000 per unit.

Two new speakers, the BeoSound 1 and BeoSound 2, have futuristic and metallic design with long cylindrical bodies standing on smaller bases. It’s equipped with five microphones for far-field voice recognition and acoustic echo canceling technology, allowing the speaker to hear users’ voice commands over the music.

As for features, the BeoSound speakers work just like a Google Home, so users can play music, check the calendar, search the web and control smart home devices.

There are four buttons on the top of the device, so users can program their favorable commands to be triggered via a press, to read today’s news or start the “Good night” home automation mode, for example.

Besides the Google Assistant capabilities, Apple AirPlay 2 is also supported, so that users can stream Apple Music on their BeoSound speakers.

The speakers are products of a high-end speaker company, which is able to provide quality audio. The price tags are relatively high, however.

The BeoSound 1 will cost US$1,750 and will start shipping in September. This model can be battery powered from a docking station, which costs US$175 extra. The BeoSound 2 model needs to stay plugged in and will be available in October for US$2,250.

The speakers from Bang & Olufsen could become the very first choice in the real high-end speaker market, for consumers in the high-income bracket.

Other smart speakers with good voice quality like Google Home Max, Apple HomePod and the Sonos One cost between US$200 and US$400. An average Amazon Echo is available for US$100 and the Echo Dot costs US$50.

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